


Budding - Blood Sex Sugar Magick: Book One

by bloodsexsugarmagick



Series: Blood Sex Sugar Magick [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Fantasy, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-16
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-05-29 03:37:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6357358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bloodsexsugarmagick/pseuds/bloodsexsugarmagick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Terra Lillian finds herself drawn powerfully to young Diving Hawk. But is he as dangerous as her Elder claims?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Bird and the Flower

The sky was mostly clear on the morning of the funeral.

I slipped quietly through the fields of my village as the pre-dawn light crept across the violet sky, staining it a lavender hue.

I broke my fast on Black Thorn's strawberries as I went, making sure to stuff several for later in the clean leather pouch along my belt. Black Thorn had been my neighbor for all of my life, and I had learned by now that he would know - somehow - that I was the reason some of his precious fruits were missing from the barrels he grew them in.

'May as well make the scolding worthwhile,' I reasoned to myself as I filled the pouch the rest of the way at a particularly fruitful barrel.

I knew that my greed was getting away with me and forced myself away from the luscious field with three of the rich berries mushing together in my mouth and several more in each hand. I made it away from Black Thorn's farm just as I heard him starting to bustle about outside his little hut.

I carefully stalked to the top of the large hill overlooking the village from the northeast, sticking to the tall grasses and bushes to hide my form from any early risers below. When I reached the top, I looked down on the village I was raised in. The houses stretched before me in the large valley, all gathered around a small lake. I stared at the lake for a few moments before turning and sprinting down the other side of the hill, holding my breasts in my hands to quell their painful jogging.

A couple miles away was the stream that wound through the hills and eventually fed the lake of my village. I alternated walking and jogging to it, knowing that it marked relative safety from any searchers from the village. After about a mile, sweat dripped down my forehead and my breasts, but I did not slow below a brisk walk. 'I should probably get in better shape,' I told myself as I marched on to my goal. A cool autumn breeze regularly swept across my skin and dried much of the sweat. Still, when the stream appeared over the side of a hill, I breathed a sigh of relief, as thoughts of the cold water filling my throat sprang to my mind.

I started to sprint forward to the bank of the water, but then the fullness of the sight before me caught my attention.

A large young man with deeply tanned skin stood calf-deep in the frigid water of the gushing stream. He wore no tunic and his bare chest showcased powerful pectoral muscles astride a healthy gut. He changed his stance in the water and his long loincloth shifted slightly in the current, whipping against his downstream leg. With his body turned toward me, I could see a stylized bird of prey tattoed upon his chest. Unconsciously my hand went to my own chest and I looked down upon the floral design peeking out from the side of my breastwrap.

'He must be from the Raptor tribe.'

I looked back upon the stranger in the stream and noticed his eyes were closed and his chin was set stubbornly forward. He continued to move to different stances in what looked like some sort of foreign dance I had never seen before. He thrust his limbs in different directions, always looking askew and off-tempo, but with a peculiar sense of balance.

His long raven-black hair whipped about his face in a sudden breeze, flapping in slightly oily clumps. He coughed for a moment and threw a powerful hand at the loosely flying locks, throwing them back over his shoulder. He opened his eyes and they widened for a moment as he looked upon me. Then he locked his eyes to my own, "I take it I have found my way to the lands of the Flower tribe, then."

It wasn't a question, exactly, but I nodded an answer anyway. His voice was higher than I expected, but he spoke gruffly, heading off friendliness with his tone. I strode up to the bank of the stream and held my hand out towards him, palm up and fingers together in the ancient greeting of our people, "I am Terra Lillian of the Flower tribe, brother."

The man sized me up again, looked away with his hair covering his face, and then returned his gaze to my eyes. He walked a couple of towering steps to the bank and pressed his hand against mine. "And I am Diving Hawk of the Raptor tribe, sister." He looked past me as his hand dropped away from mine dismissively. "Where is your village? I need to speak with your elders."

My eyebrows lowered at his arrogant treatment of me and then raised again as he asked after the elders. "They aren't going to want to see you right now, Diving Hawk."

"They'll want to see me even less later, I'm sure," he dully replied, stepping cleanly out of the stream and around me in two large strides. He pointed back to where I had come and then looked back at me, "It's this way isn't it." He started stomping off to the hills after his half question.

'Ugh, they'll be even madder at me if they think I let someone disrupt the ceremony...' I thought for just a moment and looked down to the chattering stream. "Uh... no," I lied. I pointed down the stream as he looked back to me with raised brows. "Its easier to just follow the stream. It empties into the village, you know."

Diving Hawk shrugged and started walking downstream "So be it, then."

'That should buy some time,' I told myself. Visitors to my tribe were not all that common. Sometimes people would seek us out for help with some romantic measure or another. I suppose they figured that as the Flower tribe we were naturally aligned with such things. I thought that kind of belief was nonsense, of course, but foolish lovers do not seem to like having their foolishness addressed. In any case, visitors were usually good for at least some amusement.

I started to walk off after Diving Hawk and realized that with his great strides he was quite a bit ahead of me. "Hey, wait up," I called as I jogged to catch up.

The large man rolled his head up to the sky with a heavy shrug as if to ask the sparse clouds, "Why me?" but slowed his pace until I was able to match his stride.

"So what's her name, Diving Hawk?"

The big man turned his head slightly to me with his brow raised, "Who?"

"The girl you are wooing? Most people who visit our tribe are trying to get some sort of romantic help."

"Ah, I see." He rolled his eyes as he looked ahead again, "Flowers." He made a deep rumbling growl and spit into the grass, "What nonsense." He shook his head from side to side, "Nothing says 'love' like culling a fragrant symbol of life and giving it to someone so they can watch it decay." He laughed, darkly. "How foolish humans are."

I grinned at the strange man, "Oh - and aren't you human, too?"

He shrugged, ponderously, "Who knows?" and then drifted back into silence.

I kept pace with him for a while longer, hoping he would say something else, but he stayed silent, seeming comfortable in it. "So if it's not for romance, then why are you wanting to speak to the Flower elders?"

"I need information."

It was beginning to seem as though getting Diving Hawk to talk to me would be like pulling weeds. I coughed, trying to sound like I was hiding annoyance, "What kind of information, Diving Hawk?"

"Hn," he snorted, "You wouldn't know."

I fell behind him a little so I could glare at his back while he walked. His back was very well-muscled, and I found this fact just added to my irritation.

After a minute or so he slowed down again until I caught back up, "It's about something that happened a long time ago. A big man with silver-white hair was supposed to have come this way."

A flash of a white-haired version of Diving Hawk came to my mind, "Just how long ago was this?"

"Probably about..." he leaned back his head and drummed the fingers of his left hand along his right arm. "10 cycles? Yeah, that's about right."

'10 cycles. That's even before Daddy died...' A flash of a man's wide, thick smile blasted me, and my arm twitched a little bit. I moved some hair out of my face, "Yeah, I was pretty young back then. Probably wouldn't remember much." I started thinking back to different travelers that came through town when I was little, but all my thoughts were vague and blurry, and I couldn't tell what were memories and what were guesses. After a while I noticed Diving Hawk looking at me occasionally. "I'm sorry - I guess you really will need to check with the elders."

He raised his eyebrows, "I wasn't expecting you to be able to help. Don't feel bad - you couldn't have been more than a cycle or two old at the time. Almost no one remembers things that far back." He looked up ahead and chuckles, "Not even me. I can remember a couple of things from late in my third cycle, but that's the limit."

I stopped walking and cocked my head at the traveler, 'One or two cycles old? But that means he thinks I'm-' "12 cycles? You think I'm 12 cycles old?" I glared at him as he stopped as well and turned to look at me with slightly widened eyes.

I stalked wildly up to him, staring up the several hands of height between our eyes. When I was directly in front of him I grabbed my large breasts and shook them at him for emphasis, "Do these. Look. Like the breasts of a girl in her twelfth cycle?"

Diving Hawk glanced down at my hands cupping my breasts for a few moments and then looked back up to my eyes. He closed his eyes, and then after a moment gulped. He opened his eyes and let out a breath, slowly, "I wasn't trying to offend you. Sometimes some people grow up faster than others - at least that is how it is in the Raptor tribe." He cocked his head to the side and rubbed at the back of his neck, "I just figured you were a little younger than I am." He shrugged and turned back downstream, walking with his long strides again, his loincloth bouncing between his thighs.

'A little younger? He can't be...' I blinked, confused, and looked at the fully-formed backside of the young man in front of me, before darting after him again, "Diving Hawk, wait - just how old are you?"

"Hn?" he looked down at me and read my face. "Ah," he chuckles a bit, "yeah, you're not the first to be surprised. I've finished 13 cycles - 14 by next midsummer." He looked forward again, "All my siblings grew up fast, but I was the fastest." He stretched a bit while walking, his back leaning ponderously far behind his moving legs. "I think I'm done now, though. Just as well - I'll have more time to get used to my body than most get, I suppose." He looked aside to me, "And you Terra Lillian? Just how young aren't you?"

"Oh," I thought back to my last cycling, remembering the others in my tribe who always cycled with me, and how they all reacted. Everyone had told me they couldn't believe how old I was. Even years back, they had always said that. "I just cycled. That makes 15, now."

Diving Hawk looked at me with wide eyes again, and his chin jutted out in disbelief, "My tribemates say I just have a really youthful face."

Diving Hawk's eyes slowly shrunk back and he nodded a couple times. "Fair enough. I grew quick; you're still growing." He smirked at me.

I cocked my head to the side and smiled slowly at him, "Sure." I was pretty sure that I'd already reached my full height as well, but I didn't see a point in arguing the matter. "So does the Raptor tribe make a habit of kicking out people when they reach their 13th cycle?"

Diving Hawk turned his head sharply to me, and his face twitched a few times, "What do you mean, 'kicked out?'"

I shrank back from his sudden reaction, "Sorry, I was just kidding. I'm just guessing at why you're out traveling like this." 'He's a little touchy, isn't he.'

He breathed in sharply and then took a couple deep breaths after. I could see his arm was twitching, 'What is up with him?'

"Well..." He looked away from me and down to the stream, "I already told you, I'm looking for... White Eagle."

'White Eagle? Oh, the man with silver hair he mentioned.' "Sounds like a Raptor, just like you. Is he family or something, Diving Hawk?"

I watched from the corner of my vision as his face twisted a little bit, "Uh... yeah. White Eagle is my father."

"Looking for your Dad, huh?" 'Didn't he just say that he came this way 10 cycles ago?' A snarl rose in my lips. 'What kind of man leaves a boy of only three cycles behind to go on some adventure?' "I wouldn't bother looking if I were you, Diving Hawk. No father worth the title abandons their kits."

His eyebrows rose at the venom in my voice. It surprised me, too, and I looked away from him. My Daddy's wide smile came to my mind again and I felt my head droop.

After a few moments, Diving Hawks clear voice rang out again, "He didn't abandon us." I looked back to him and saw his eyes fixed firmly forward, conviction strong in his face. His voice turned to rough gravel, "It wasn't his choice to go." His eyes were narrowed deeply.

I shivered at his expression. "So why are you looking for him?"

He kept staring forward as we walked, "He is my father - why wouldn't I look for him?"

"But Diving Hawk, you were only three, right? You don't even know him." 'I was nine, and that wasn't old enough to know someone either.'

Diving Hawk sighed slowly, and then looked at me, his cheeks slightly drooping. "I know - and that's part of the problem, isn't it? A child should know its parents."

"Yeah, I think you're right, Hawk." I reached a hand up to his shoulder and squeezed it briefly.

He looked down at me, smiling gently, "Thank you, Lillian."

I giggled, "How about you just call me Lily?"

He smiled a little broader, "Fine then - Lily."

We walked slowly - at least by Hawk's standards - alongside the stream. We shared the berries I had filched as we walked, and Hawk told me stories of his childhood, his chin reddening despite his best efforts to eat the berries cleanly.

"My sisters and I used to run through the wilding vines, plucking as many berries as we could eat. Then we would fill up a bucket and Mama would make a pie." He smiled fondly at the memory, but then his eyes turned cold.

I gently asked, "What is it, Hawk?"

But he replied, "It is nothing."

He looked into the sky at the sun climbing closer to the noon stretch, "How much further is it?"

I gesture to the top of a nearby hill and start climbing. Hawk follows behind me, climbing more easily than I. At the top of the hill, I point out a smoke cloud rising up over another hill up ahead. 'I guess the boat is still smoking.' "There it is - home." I drop the last word bitterly, and Hawk looks at me with a slightly raised brow. I ignore the unspoken question, and trot back down to the stream, "It'll be easier to just stick to the bank. We're almost there, now."

The entrance to the village soon looms before us. The elders said that in ancient times, the stream had cut through a hill leading up to the village. According to the story, when our ancestors had found the rock cut, they chose to honor its beauty by founding the village on the other side. Personally, I thought that the bountiful lake on the other side of the rock cut had more to do with their decision.

I stepped down into the stream to make my way through the pass, looking over my shoulder and making a lazy motion with my neck for Hawk to follow.

He nodded and stepped down as well.

We walked into the cut and I listened, gratified somehow, as he made appreciative noises while looking at the rock faces next to us.

As we passed the bend and the village came into view, I shrank back. 'What in all the realms is going on?'

Hawk walked up behind me and patted my shoulder before walking in front of me. He held his hands up disarmingly, staring into the assembled guards in front of him, "Friends of the Flower Tribe - I come with peace in my heart." He brought his hands together and bowed low, respectfully.

I stared past Hawk at my village. My entire village.

In the front, the most hardened farmers were gathered with their sharpest tools in their hands. Behind them, their family stood. Most of the townsfolk had some sort of makeshift weapon, and all of them were glaring at us - no, at Diving Hawk.

I looked at him again, still bowed deep into his respectful greeting.

One of the elders moved forward and pointed at Hawk with a gleaming hoe. "We don't care for your empty assurances of peace, intruder!" His heroic posture was offset by the farm tool in his hands, and his feeble, shaking frame. I giggled briefly at the sight, before I could stop myself. The elder glared at me, and I looked away, feeling a little heat rising in my cheeks.

Diving Hawk rose back up to his full height and locked eyes with the threatening man many feet away from him, "My offers are not empty, Venerable One. I wish no harm to any in this village."

The elder narrowed his eyes at Hawk and looked past him to me, "If what you say is true, then release our sister to us!"

I blinked a few times and looked from Hawk to the elder and back. Hawk gestured behind him to me, "Lily is no prisoner. She is free to go where she wishes."

The assembled villagers gasped, "You would be so vulgar as to call her by her totem name?" The elder moved to spit on the ground, but much of the fluid spattered into his generous wiry beard instead. I choked my giggle down this time, but the elder still glared at me accusingly, "Come here, Terra Lillian!"

I looked to the villagers and then back to Diving Hawk who hadn't turned his back from them. I strode a couple of steps in front of him and threw out my arms wide, "I don't know what is wrong with you all! We never welcome guests to our village in this way. Have you lost what little sense your perfume-addled heads had?" The villagers gasped again and many hands flew to cover many mouths.

My mother stepped forward through the crowd and looked at me, icy daggers in her eyes. I returned her gaze, cooly. I only dropped back half a step. "He is no guest, Lillian," my mother pointed past me at the Raptor man, "He is a monster!"

I raised my eyebrows and dropped my hand in calming motions in front of me as the village rang with choruses of assent. I looked back at Hawk, but his eyes were vacant and still locked with the elder's.

I looked back to the villagers again, "He just wants some information!"

The elder growled and then spoke in a rasp, "He will get nothing from us, until you are safely over here, Terra Lillian."

'Safe? What are they talking about?' I looked back at the Raptor man again, "Hawk..."

He looked to me and nodded, gently, "It's ok, Lily. Go on."

I looked into his eyes and nodded myself, slowly. Then I turned away from him and walked towards my villagers. As I joined them, they closed around me. 'I'm sure they mean to be protective, but it just feels oppresive.' I turned to look again at Hawk and the elder.

"Well, elder of the Flower Tribe?" Hawk lifted his hands straight out to his sides. "Will you answer my questions?"

The elder spat again, "I already know your questions, bastard of the Raptor tribe. I will tell you nothing of your demon father!"

My mouth fell open as the crowd cheered. 'How dare he!' I looked at my village and wondered again what could have worked them up like this.

Hawk closed his eyes, and I could see him shaking - almost vibrating. My stomach began to tighten slightly. "My father -" He opened his eyes, and a swirling uncolor pooled in them "- is not a demon!" He ended in a yell and a sudden wind popped up at the end of it.

The elder shrank back and then took a step forward, leveling the hoe at Diving Hawk, "Just as I suspected. You are every bit the demon he is! Begone from our lands, beast!" With the last word, the elder struck the stream in front of him with his hoe, and a large wave swept forward and engulfed Diving Hawk.

Diving Hawk stood firm as the wave passed him, his hair clinging wetly to his shoulders. He closed his eyelids upon the pools of emptiness on his face. When he opened his eyes again, the pools were gone, but his face was firm, "So be it, Flower Tribe. I will take my leave of you."

With that declaration, Diving Hawk turned to go. As he strode off, one of our more athletic farmers darted forward and threw his pitchfork at Diving Hawk's back.

"No - Hawk!" I screamed as the pitchfork hurtled towards his rippling back. I saw he was dancing again - the same strange dance as when I first laid my eyes on him. Right as the pitchfork was about to reach him, the air turned into a pool of the same nothingness that had reflected from Hawk's eyes, moments before. The sharp tool sank into the pool, and a moment later another pool ripped open above the farmer's head. He yelped and jumped back, but not before his pitchfork speared out and stuck his foot bloodily to the ground.

As the second pool closed, I collapsed to my knees and wretched.

"Goodbye, Lily," I looked up and saw Hawk's head slightly turned over his shoulder. Then he straightened up and walked back out of the village, water still dripping from his muscles and loincloth.


	2. Petals on the Water

I had hoped that the brief and tumultuous visit of the Raptor youth to our village would distract from my absence at the funeral.

It did.

A little.

As Diving Hawk's large form disappeared behind the bend of the stream, many of my fellow villagers breathed a collective sigh. Farming tools drooped low in slack hands and everyone's eyes turned to Elder Pine as he approached the farmer who had been pinned to the creek bed by his own pitchfork.

'I don't care to see this.' I slowly looked around and saw no one looking at me. It looked like everyone else was moving into a huddle around

Pine and the injured farmer. I slowly turned and started walking towards the village.

After a few moments, a light gasp and the sound of rapid splashing, followed by the feeling of ripples across my calves eased a quiet groan from my throat, 'Well, it was worth a try.'

"Just where do you think you are going, young lady?" A frigid hand grasped my bicep and spun me around after the voice hissed at me. The taller woman with thick, wiry locks of mottled gray and black atop a pear-shaped frame was focused on me with dangerously narrowed eyelids.

"I'm going home, Gray Peonie." I leaned my weight back to move away, but her grip held firm.

Peonie's nails began to dig into my arm, "First you disrespect our dead by skipping out on the funeral this morning - and now you cavort with Demons and disrespect your own mother?"

My own eyes narrowed as I reached my hand over hers. I looked behind me as more splashing approached me, this time from the village.

"Terra Lillian. What have I told you about eating my berries?"

I groaned quietly. "Hello, Black Thorn, sir."

Peonie squeezed my arm again, and my eyes darted back to her, an angry rebuttal on my lips. The bile in her eyes practically dripped from her irises, though, and I swallowed drily, instead. "Did you get into his berries, again? What is the matter with you?"

I struggled to pull my arms away, "I don't know what you're talking about, I just went for a walk this morning to stretch my legs, and -"

She cut me off with a twist of her wrist, years of gardening allowing her to turn my arm over with ease, despite my resistance. I cried out briefly as I felt a burning near my elbow.

Peonie glanced briefly at the red stains and seeds on my fingertips and then looked up to my eyes, her own face as frigid as stone, "You are a liar and a thief, Lily."

Black Thorn scratched at his dark, wiry beard, his beady eyes darting between myself and Peonie before settling on her, "I think I have a fitting punishment for her, Coronal Peonie." His eyes shifted back to me, and he grinned, toothily. "I'll work her til her fingers bleed."

I groaned, made an effort to swallow my pride, and then slacked my cheeks and widened my eyes to my best pout before looking up into Peonie's face.

She was grinning and grinned all the wider when my eyes met hers, "Do as you will, Black Thorn." She turned me back around and shoved me after him as he started walking back to the village.

I heard some raucous laughter and conversation, and looked over my shoulder and saw the injured farmer stumbling along with the help of two friends, a cask tightly gripped in one hand. 'Well, at least he's going to be ok. Wait a minute - for attacking an unarmed man in the back like that, maybe it would be better if he wasn't ok.' I glared after him as he stumbled off.

"Quit dawdling, Terra Lillian." Black Thorn looked back at me, disapprovingly, limping along with the aid of his large walking stick.

"I'm not dawdling," I huffed, "I'm just tired. I've been walking all morning." I started following after him again.

"If you are being out-paced by a lame old man, being tired is no excuse, child."

I remained silent as we continued to his farm. He went inside his home and came out with two large buckets, handing one to me. He then walked off to his blackberry fields.

"Why aren't you bringing your walking stick?" I watched him, curiously.

"I don't need it."

'I guess with all the barrels and posts around he can catch himself if he starts to fall?' I shrugged an then followed after him.

Black Thorn put on a thin pair of gloves before getting to work pulling berries from the bethorned bushes all around us.

I saw another pair of gloves in his back pocket, 'I guess he really does plan on me working until my fingers bleed.' I glowered at his backside and then knelt in front of the nearest bush. I deliberately reached out and pulled on a plump blackberry, trying to avoid the thorns. I placed the berry in the bucket triumphantly and planned my next target. I managed to pick several berries in a row without incident.

"Ow!" I had miscalculated when pulling on a particularly plump berry, and a neighboring vine slapped at my hand. I threw my ring finger in my mouth, sucking on the bloody tip. I could hear chuckling coming from the other side of the bush. 'You can do this, Lily.'

I breathed deep and tried again.

A couple bushes (and multiple lacerations on my hands and fingers) later, I stopped pulling berries for a moment. It was getting very difficult to focus on avoiding thorns with the stinging sensation in my hands making me feel like I had a small fire contained within each hand.

The sun was just starting to decline in the sky. It was past lunch, and my stomach had been reminding me of that - quite noisily reminding me.

"Hmph." Black Thorn stood up and looked at his elbow. A thin red line was appearing. He shrugged and walked to his hut.

I plucked a few more berries, managing somehow not to injure myself further, and then Black Thorn returned, carrying a small jar. He placed the lid on the ground and then placed a finger inside, gently. He rubbed some sort of ointment on to the line on his elbow and then moved his arm back and forth a couple of times, smiling. He put his gloves back on and returned to picking berries.

I cocked my head to the side and stood up, approaching the jar, so I could examine the contents. I picked it up and brought it to my face. It smelled horrible, like pungently rotting fruit. I carefully stuck a finger in anyway and proceeded to rub my other hand with the thick, greasy salve. To my pleasure, the stinging quickly subsided in that hand to a tolerable level. Excited, I decided to rub the other hand in ointment as well. Satisfied, I placed the jar on the ground and closed the lid, before turning and walking back to my bucket.

"Uh-uh!"

Looking back, I saw Black Thorn still picking berries, facing away from me. "What?"

"You aren't going to pick my berries like that. You'll make them taste awful. They'll be ruined."

Smelling my fingers, I agreed with his assessment, "Oh. Then what do you want me to do?"

He stood up and grabbed the other gloves from his waist, handing them to me, "Gloves actually really help when you are dealing with thorny plants, you know." He turned his back on me again, kneeling to pick more berries.  
I struggled not to clench my hand in rage, my mouth opening and closing several times as I tried not to yell at Black Thorn. I carefully put the gloves on, trying not to get salve on the parts that would touch the berries, "Why... didn't you... just give me... the gloves... in the first place?"

He stopped picking berries for a moment and turned his head barely, to look at me from the corner of his eye, "Why didn't you just ask for them in the first place?" He returned to his work, calmly.

I narrowed my eyes and then bent back down to my own bush and bucket. 'Damned old bastard.'

The work went by much quicker and easier with the gloves. I didn't receive any more injuries from the bushes that I could notice. After we had picked from several more bushes, Black Thorn stood up, looked in our buckets and nodded. "Come on then." He took his bucket to his hut and grabbed his walking stick. Then we started to walk to the nearest house.

"So tell me, Terra Lillian - are you planning on scattering petals for Strong Oak later?"

"Uh..." 'Well no, not really, but how should I say that?' "I, um, don't really feel like I knew him that well."

Black Thorn nodded, "That's true, I suppose." We entered the first house and the woman there happily filled a bowl with plump berries and then handed Black Thorn several rolls which he placed at the top of his bucket. They thanked each other and we moved on to the next home.

"You know, Terra Lillian... the Flower Tribe is not that large a village. I know everyone here, fairly well, I would think."

I sighed and looked away. A young boy of less than four cycles saw us walking and a grin broke out on his dirty face. He ran up to Black Thorn, holding his hands out in a tiny bowl.

Black Thorn smiled and reached into his bucket, pulling out enough berries to fill the boy's hands, "There you go."

The boy squealed and shoved every berry in his mouth at once, before running off, cheeks bulging.

Black Thorn smiled, and then we kept moving on. "You may not know this Terra Lillian, but you are not the first young person to feel as though they do not fit in - to think that no one understands you."

I rolled my eyes, 'Yeah, well for me it's a little more true, you old coot.'

"I'm going to tell you a story, Terra Lillian."

'Ugh, he keeps saying my full name like that. It sound so weird.'

"You may find it hard to believe, but when I was young, I wasn't the stocky, manly man that I am now," He smiled over his shoulder at me, yellowed teeth showing as he flexed his thin arms.

I smiled, weakly, and he turned back around.

"Back then, a lot of the other kids would pick on me for being weak."

I watched him as we walked into the next home and he passed out berries into a bowl waiting on the counter. The house was empty, but the inhabitants would probably be home soon, and I supposed they would be happy to see the filled bowl of fruit.

"No one did anything to stop it - until one of the stronger girls threw me into a bramble."

I cringed, imagining what it must have felt like to have those thorns pricking all over my body, instead of just my hands

"That's when Strong Oak stepped up. He pulled the branches apart from around me so I could crawl out. Then he wiped at his wounds and my wounds with the same hand and said, 'Our blood is joined and we are brothers. If someone hurts Black Thorn, they hurt Strong Oak.'"

I felt my eyes widen as I watched Black Thorn laugh a little. 'A Blood Oath over some bullying? Strong Oak sure didn't mess around.'

"He was always one for grand gestures, but he tried to follow through, too. After that day, I followed him around everywhere, and he never once complained to me, although I must have been at least a little irritating."

'He might not have complained to you, old coot, but I bet he complained when you weren't around. I know I would've.' I looked away at the passing townsfolk as we walked.

"I grew very dependant on Strong Oak. I considered him my closest friend. I suppose I should have been thrilled when he and Tiny Tulip fruited."

I felt a little warmth in my cheeks at the topic. Strong Oak was a very large man, and Tiny Tulip was a fairly small woman. The matchup was a little uncomfortable for me to think about.

"But, even though I knew I should be congratulating them, all I could feel was fury. I ran off to the forest for a few weeks. Everytime I would start to calm down and think about coming home, I would catch sight of him in the forest. I guess he was looking for me - but she always came with him." He shook his head.

The intonations he used when talking about Strong Oak and Tiny Tulip surprised me. And then something clicked. 'Wait, is he...?' "Black Thorn - did you want to fruit with Strong Oak?"

His shoulders shook for a moment and then he threw his head back and laughed quietly, but heartily. It sounded sincere, but also sad to me.

After he stopped laughing, we continued on in silence for several minutes.

'Loving someone who doesn't love you back the same way. It's hard.' A flash of a familiar grin struck me, and I looked down at the dirt path we were walking. "So did Strong Oak know?"

"That I wanted to fruit with him?" Black Thorn laughed, short and low, "No, I don't think he ever did." He took a few more steps, "Tiny Tilup was another story, of course."

I swallowed. "That must have been awkward."

He chuckled some more, "A bit, yes, although not as much as I expected it to be. She is a strange one, you know. She thought that it was cute. Wanted us to all be some big happy family, I imagine."

Heat rose noticeably in my cheeks, and I took a few deep breaths, "So why didn't you do that, Black Thorn?"

He looked at me with his eyebrows raised, lips turned down in a grimace, "You know, she's really. Not. My type." He looked ahead again, "And I only really had eyes for Strong Oak, but I don't guess I was his type, either."

We finished delivering the berries in relative silence. Back at his hut, Black Thorn grabbed a bowl and scooped half of the remaining berries into it. Then he placed two of the rolls he had been given on top and handed it to me. I accepted it and hungrily shoved a few berries in my mouth, savoring their flavor briefly before swallowing them down.

"Thanks for your help Terra Lillian. Because of you I finished much earlier and have many hours to fill." Black Thorn looked into the sky, staring at the sun - still fairly high in the sky. "Well, there is a fresh cask of berrywine calling for me, to keep me company until the sun falls." He waved at me with a thin smile on his earthy face and then turned to go inside his home.

"Don't drown yourself with your sorrow, Black Thorn."

He laughed, but it had no humor to it, "Do not worry, Terra Lillian. I have lived always on my own. I can take care of myself."

I took the bowl of food and walked away from his home, chewing. 'I guess he won't be seeing any of the others tonight.'

I wandered around the village as I ate the juicy berries and just-cooled rolls. Many of the villagers were still hard at work and no one paid me much heed. 'Could someone as dense as Strong Oak really exist?' I pondered for a while and found my footsteps had taken me to the lake.

The water was encircled completely by various flowers, cultivated by the different villagers. Even I had a few plants I had seeded many cycles ago, their spawn still flourishing. I reached down and plucked two calla lilies from their stems, the flowers almost jumping into my hands.

I looked around the lake, covered in petals thrown onto the water from the others this morning.

I took a deep breath and held it for a moment, closing my eyes before letting it out. Then I walked out onto the water, feeling the petals tickling my soles. I gently coaxed the wrapped petals from the flowers in my grasp as I strolled over the surface of the lake, placing them into the now empty bowl I carried. When I reached the center, I kneeled and placed my empty hand on the surface, looking down at the vague outline of a fresh casket on the pond's bottom.

'Strong Oak - you were well loved, and you will be missed.' I scattered the petals in my other hand along the surface and watched as they swirled around me.

'I wonder - will I ever find someone I want to fruit with? Someone who means to me as much as Strong Oak did to Black Thorn and Tiny Tulip?' All the villagers near my cycles spun through my head and filled me with frustration. Then a strong young man appeared in my mind, dancing bizarrely in a rushing stream. My cheeks burned, brightly.

I enjoyed the burn for a few moments, allowing him to dance in my mind and then stood back up, gently shaking my head and feeling my hair dance across my shoulders and back, 'I wonder where you're going, Hawk?'

I turned around to walk back to the edge of the lake and saw Blackberry Boy standing there, his purple-smeared mouth slack, and his eyes wide.

He watched me as I marched to the perimeter, "Lily - are you a fairy?"

His voice was so squeaky and innocent I couldn't help but laugh, "Yeah, kid, I'm a fruitin' fairy."

His eyes lit up and he squealed before running off, surely planning on finding his mother and telling her about my language. 'That's alright, kid. I don't plan on being around long enough for her to scold me much.'


	3. A Pollen in the Wind

I started walking to the center of the little town. Before I got far, my stomache growled again, 'Oh come on, I just ate!' I glared at the empty bowl I was still clutching with irritation and then punched my stomache lightly, 'Shut up, you.'

After a few minutes, I made it to Elder Pine's house. He was sitting on a gently-sloped rocker on his wooden porch, puffing away at a pipe, 'Probably stuffed with wahupta.' He didn't seem to notice me as I climbed onto his porch, until I stepped almost directly in front of him and bowed slightly.

He looked up at me and his eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, "Ah, Terra Lillian. Why have you come to visit me?"

I deliberately lowered my eyes to his wooden porch and began tracing the wood grain with my gaze, "After working, Black Thorn suggested that I should come and apologize to you," I lied.

From the edge of my gaze I could see his cheeks rise into a smirk, like that of a cat having just caught its prey in his teeth, "Aaaaah. Good, good." He puffed on his pipe again, and I could clearly smell it now, the odor very lightly resembling that of an angry skunk.

'Definitely wahupta.' I wrinkled my nose a little and looked up to Elder Pine's face.

He was staring off at the horizon again, "It is a good thing that you came to us and we sent that Demon away." Puff.

I scrunched my mouth to one side of my face as I thought of my next words, "How did you know that the Demon was coming, Elder Pine?"

He smiled and nodded, "Ah, yes. It was that messenger from the Raptor Tribe. Who knows what that Demon would have done to our village if we hadn't chased him off." He laughed and it came out a high-pitched rattle. "At least he won't be able to hurt anyone else!"

My stomache felt uneasy and I swallowed as I tried to choke out my next words, "What do you mean, Elder Pine?" I tried my best to sound innocent and trusting. It was difficult.

He laughed again, shrilly, "The messenger rode off on a fast horse to the Hoof Tribe. Their warriors will surely plan an ambush for the Demon, as they did for his father, years back." A gnarled, toothy grin plastered on his face as I stepped slowly away and backed quietly off his porch.

I walked numbly home, almost stumbling several times on lightly uneven ground. The other villagers might've stared, but I didn't notice them if they did, 'He's almost a day ahead of me - and surely he is traveling to the Hoof Tribe. They are the only other village in the area besides the Raptor village.' I swallowed, my nerves tingling, 'Can I even catch up to him? And the messenger left on horseback before we even made it to the village. The Hoof Tribe might even now have scouts searching for him. They aren't farmers like us. They'll have real weapons - swords and bows.' Young children in the Flower Tribe sometimes pretended to be hunters and warriors from the Hoof Tribe. Our stories told of several Hoof warriors who had gone on adventures and fought in distant battles.

'He won't stand a chance.'

I passed Black Thorn's hut and saw a flickering light dancing across his walls through his open window, 'I guess he lit a candle before drinking himself into a stupor. I hope he doesn't burn his home down.'

As I walked to the front door of my mother's house, the smell of something burning entered the air, 'Ah. We must be having stew again.'

I entered and she looked up at me from the fireplace where she was stirring the slightly smoking pot, "Finally came home, hm? I saw Black Thorn in his house ages ago."

She looked at my hands and the gloves I still wore, "Take those dirty things off, I'll not have you eating dinner with those on."

I shrugged and started to pull off the gloves. I gasped a little from multiple sharp pains, 'I guess Black Thorn's salve wore off.'

Gray Peonie ran up at my gasp and ripped the gloves off my hands. I gasped again - sharply this time, but she didn't give any indication of noticing, staring instead at the little cuts all over my hands.

She began to coo and tut disapprovingly as she trotted to bring the water bucket over. She nodded towards one of the chairs at the table for me to sit down and then started cleaning my hands with a damp cloth.

I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore the pain as she worked, 'Now you're worried about my hands, huh? You seemed just fine with them getting all bloody earlier when Black Thorn told you that was the plan.'

When she was done, she scooped me out a large helping of blackened soup. I choked down as much of it as I could as she chattered on meaninglessly about her day. She didn't mention Diving Hawk at all.

"Poor Tiny Tulip. I mean - I know what she's going through after all, but I just wish she'd let me be there for her, you know? She's still young - she needs someone to encourage her to find someone else to..." She trailed off and looked down a bit.

'Still embarrassed to talk about fruiting with me, huh Gray?' I snorted, "You never found someone else."

I stirred the char around in my bowl as I heard the huff of breath that meant her eyes had narrowed at me, "As a matter of fact, I did find someone else. Don't you remember your Daddy?"

I closed my eyes and a flash of a man's face darted into my mind. I reached out, trying to pin the image down, but it was gone in a flash. I looked away from my mother and opened my eyes again. My mother's voice started rattling again, but I didn't pay it any heed. Through the window, I could see into Black Thorn's home. A large cask was sitting on a table, and then a hand reached out and grabbed it, 'Not done, huh? I guess I understand. I don't really want to think about any of this either.'

"He's been asking about you, you know."

I looked up sharply at her eyes, "Huh? Gray... Daddy's dead." I turned my gaze away from her a little, 'Just how far is your mind slipping in your age?'

Her breath huffed again, and this time I saw the accompanying eye narrowing, rather than just knowing from experience that it was always there, "Are you even listening to me at all? I'm talking about Hale Buck."

"Oooooh." I closed my eyes again, thinking back to the first time I could remember her talking to me about the man she had first fruited with. 'I was the fruit of that union.' My eyes narrowed, "Well tell him whatever you want, about me. I don't care." I snorted again, "Hell, tell him that I - what was it? - 'Cavort with Demons.'"

She chuckled a bit and looked through the window herself, "Can't say I blame you. Just thought you should know. Whenever a messenger from the Hoof Tribe comes by, there's always some little note from him lately."

My stomache flipped a little, 'Must be the stew,' I told myself.

I got up from the table and set about cleaning my bowl, "I'm tired, I'm going to bed."

Gray rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything, finishing her stew as I walked to my little room. I crawled into bed and rolled towards the wall, closing my eyes. For possibly the hundredth time that day, I thought of a strong youth, dancing in the stream, his hair and loincloth dancing around him as the morning light sparkled on his wet skin. 'I can't let the Hoof Tribe find you, Diving Hawk.'

I looked out the window, sunlight still streaming in a little bit. I sighed, 'There's no way I can sneak out right now. It'll be hours before most of the villagers have gone to rest.' I pulled my blanket over my body, 'I may as well make the most of it.'

I thought more of the Raptor boy, remembering how full his lips were, and how long his eyelashes. 'I guess he's kind of feminine in ways.' I laughed a little and then thought of his powerful-looking arms, 'Not feminine in every way, though.' I smiled and remembered his sturdy legs, unfaltering as he stepped in his awkward-seeming dance along the wet stream bed. 'So strong. So sure.' My cheeks felt warm and my hands started moving under the blanket toward my loin cloth. "Mmm." I reached the hem and placed my fingers under it.

"Lily?"

My hands froze and my cheeks burned brighter. I opened my eyes and stared at the wall. I made a big motion of slowly pulling my arms over my head and stretching as I rolled over and looked at the door.

Gray Peonie stood there, her jaw set and her eyes bright. With a deep breath she walked forward and strode to my bed, sitting on the edge, "Lily, we need to talk, and now seems as good a time as any."

'I hate it when she uses my Totem name.' I rolled over to face the wall again, 'She still treats me like a little girl.'

Gray sighed, "I think today was good for you."

'That's not what you seemed to think when you were washing my hands.'

"Everyone has been trying to be patient with you, Lily."

I sighed again, closing my eyes.

"Ever since the funeral, we've all wanted to give you time to adjust to your... talent."

"Well, it's only been a day, maybe you should all give me more time." I envisioned the lake, with the flowers growing all around.

"You know that's not the funeral I'm talking about, Lily."

Storm clouds gathered over the lake in my mind, turning the vision dark, 'Well, she's not wrong about that.' I watched as the vision played out and half of the lake drifted into the sky, joining the clouds and leaving a chasm below that separated two sides of the otherwise full lake. I could see a little girl with black hair standing among the rotting caskets.

I shivered and opened my eyes.

"My point, Lily, is that if you don't want to train your talent, you'll have to start working in some other way." She took a breath and shifted on the bed, poking me in the back as she did so. "And would it kill you to call me 'Mom' every now and then?"

I rolled my eyes, "I'll get right on it, Gray."

She gave a great sigh and dropped backwards on to the bed, slamming her shoulders into the back of my legs and then using my calves as a pillow. "Don't get all superior with me, young lady. I'm not the first to gray early in the family, and I doubt I'll be the last."

She turned her head towards mine, "In fact... I think I was about your age when it started happening."

My eyes widened and I looked down at her for the first time since she sat on the bed, "R... really?"

She smiled wide, narrowed her eyes and slowly nodded.

I groaned and she started laughing, getting up from the bed and walking to the doorway.

She stopped there, and I imagined her looking over her shoulder sternly, "And no more sneaking out, Lily."

I gave an exasperated sigh.

"I want you to promise me, Terra Lillian."

"Fine. I promise."

"Good."

She left me alone then and I heard her going about her routine before settling into her own bed. I waited for some time until her breathing had evened and then quietly got out of bed. I grabbed a large leather sack that I had and stuffed some extra clothes in it, trying to be as quiet as I could. I also placed the bowl that had made its way home with me in the sack. I tip-toed into the main room and grabbed a large knife from near the fire place, carefully stuffing it into the sack as well. Without a backwards glance, I snuck out.

'I'm not going to just give up on you, Hawk."

I looked around quickly, but didn't see any other villagers moving around. The sun had long since dropped below the horizon, and it appeared to me that I was the only Flower Villager crazy enough to be daring the night. Before moving on, I did notice a flickering light coming from Black Thorn's hut, 'Did he pass out with his candle still burning?' I started to walk slowly towards his home, 'That's just not safe.'

I got to the window and leaned in a bit to look around. The candle was close enough to reach, but I didn't see my neighbor anywhere.

A cold, smooth object poked me gently in the back, and I barely managed to choke a scream before I made it, settling for rapid breathing and a quiet cough. I slowly turned around to see Black Thorn standing behind me, holding his staff towards me, "It is a little late for a visit, Terra Lillian."

'I'm glad he's at least being quiet, or this could be trouble.' I swallowed and tried to get my breathing back under control, "I saw your candle still on and was worried about you."

His graying black brows raised and he presented a slow, sad smile, "It is good to see you showing at least some interest in the rest of the village."

I rolled my eyes and would've spit into the dirt if I wasn't trying to be quiet, "Not them, just you."

He smiled more genuinely and laughed quietly, "Well, we'll just have to take it in small steps, then." At this point he noticed the large sack in my hand, "Are you sure you weren't just here to rob me some more?"

"Huh? Wha-no-I-mean-I-" I realized I was getting a little loud and tried to calm down a bit as I saw his smile getting bigger. I took another deep breath, "I..." I tried to find a convincing lie, 'Why would I be carrying a sack around, anyway, at this time of night?'

Black Thorn looked to the bag and back at me a couple of times and then nodded, "Come inside," he walked into his home and grabbed a harnessed bag and deliberately went about finding items to place into it, "So where are you going, then?"

"I..." I struggled for words, but found none. 'I guess the gig is up. Diving Hawk - I'm so sorry!' My eyes started to feel wet and I quickly felt a tear escape and roll down my cheek, followed quickly by several more.

I choked down a sob, but Black Thorn heard it, and turned, his eyes wide, "Terra Lillian - whatever is the matter?"

"They... they're going to kill him!" I tried desperately to be quiet, but I was having trouble just standing, and I quickly realized the ground was a safer place to be. I put my sack down and went to my knees, trying to muffle my cries in the fabric.

I felt firm fingers grab my shoulders and pull me away from my bag, "Who? Who are they going to kill?"

I looked at him through the tears, and saw his earnest stare, feeling a strength in it. I tried to feel my own strength, and choked down another sob, "Diving Hawk. The Hoof Tribe is going to kill him, Black Thorn!"

He blinked and his eyes widened, "Oh." He looked down at me and my things and then back at the harness that he was packing, "Oh."

He stood up and looked around his home again before grabbing many more things and carefully cramming them into his pack. He had to rearrange things a few times, but didn't stop moving with deliberateness.

"Black Thorn?" He didn't answer, apparently consumed in his task, "What are you doing?"

He looked at me, "The same as you, little Flower." He finished packing his bag and fastened the harness around his shoulders and waist, before motioning for me to stand, "Come, we have a lot of ground to cover."

I finished choking my sobs and he helped me to my feet, handing me my sack. He grabbed his walking stick and rushed out the door. I followed after him and strode behind as he led me towards the edge of the village, 'Is he really coming with me?'

He led me to the only stable in the village and quietly opened the door. He motioned for me to wait outside and then went in. Some of the animals got a little loud, and I looked around to the nearby houses. 'Please, please don't wake up.'

No one came out of the buildings, 'Thank the Moon for heavy sleepers.' I crouched down by the door to wait, listening to the bustle inside and watching the village. After a bit of bustle, things got quiet. I strained to hear, placing my ear as close to the door as I could.

"So you're just going to run off with my best horse, and not even say anything?"

My skin chilled, 'We were so close.' I fought down the urge to cry and steeled myself, 'I need to get in there.' I crept in through the doorway.

"It is not what you think, Tule." I blinked to try to adjust my eyes faster to the near pitch black inside the stable.

"And just what is this, Thorn?!" I saw a short figure advancing on the taller silhouette that I assumed was Black Thorn.

"Shh! Please, Tules, this is very important." He stood in front of two horses that he had tied to leads. He looked up at me and then turned his head to the ground.

'Tules?' The shorter figure turned to look at me, and I recognized the silhouette of her hair and lithe frame, 'Oh. Tiny Tulip.'

Tulip's gaze searched the darkness and then locked on me, "Oh. I see." She spun back to Black Thorn, "So Oak and I weren't good enough for you -" The air seemed to thicken as she hurled her words at him and stomped towards him, "- but this little seed is just right up your alley, huh?" She flung a finger back wildly in my direction.

I swallowed, "Um, Ti-"

She spun quickly to me, her other hand pointing right at me, "Quiet, seedling. Adults are speaking."

My mouth shut of its own accord and I swallowed again.

Black Thorn's shoulders sagged for a second and then he stood up straight and looked down upon Tiny Tulip, who had turned again to face him, "Tiny Tulip, you know Terra Lillian is not my flavor."

She raised her hand at him with a pointed finger like she had at me. She shook it once and then halted. She closed it into a fist and shook it a few more times, but stopped again. Finally, she dropped her hand and sighed, "Fine. Fine."

She looked up to Black Thorn, "So what exactly is going on?"

Black Thorn put a finger warningly to his lips and I think I heard a growl coming from Tiny Tulip, "Terra Lillian here is... Adrift."

I was immediately grateful for the shadows as my cheeks burned brighter than they had all day. 'How dare he!'

Tiny Tulip whipped around to look at me, "Whaaaaat?" She crept up to me and looked into my face. I turned away and swallowed again.

Tiny Tulip let out a giggle and darted back to Black Thorn, making scarcely a sound as she quickly covered the space between them, 'She doesn't even have to try to be quiet, does she?'

I watched as Tiny Tulip grabbed Black Thorn's hands in hers and shook them up and down, "Who, who?"

He chuckled quietly, "I'm afraid you missed him this morning. He is a young Raptor who passed through earlier."

Tiny Tulip recoiled, "Wait, you mean the Demon?"

A growl of my own surfaced before I realized what I was doing. I clenched my hands into fists and quit growling, trying to regain control of myself.

Tiny Tulip turned back to me, "Sorry, Lily, that's just what everyone has been calling him."

"We have to catch up to him soon, Tules." Black Thorn reached out and gently grabbed her shoulder. "The Hoof Tribe is after him."

Even in the shadows, I could see Tiny Tulip's jaw drop a nd eyes widen, "No..."

Black Thorn nodded.

She looked between him and me and back to the horses. Then she nodded.

Black Thorn groaned and then Tiny Tulip giggled, quietly, "Pack my bag, Thorny-toad - I'll finish up here."

Black Thorn threw his hands in the air and stalked out of the stables, his walking stick forgotten against one of the stable gates.

Tiny Tulip giggled again and then quietly burst into action. She darted to a nearby torch and struck some flint and steel several times to light it.

The small light made a huge difference and Tiny Tulip motioned me towards her as she darted towards the horses. She set me on the side of one of them and started barking quiet orders. In no time, both of them were pronounced ready and Tiny Tulip had tied them to a post, pulling two more from their stalls.

"Four? But Tiny Tulip -"

"Pffft!" She looked at me, her eyebrows comically low and her eyes almost slits, "Tule. Or Tules. Would you want everyone calling you 'Tiny' all the time?"

I looked down at my chest and cocked my head to the side.

Her eyes almost disappeared into lines, now, "I guess you haven't had that problem, have you, Lily."

It didn't sound like much of a question, so I returned to my own question, "But Ti- I mean Tules, why are we getting four horses ready and not three?"

She smiled brightly at me. "You poor thing. Must be so tired." She handed me a strap and then darted around and grabbed it from me, "Cause we'll need one for your Demon, Lily!"

'Oh.' I rubbed my face and eyes, "I guess you're right. I have been up since before sunrise."

"Hehe... well you have to get up early if you want to get Thorny-toad's berries from him!" She pronounced the other horses finished and we started leading them out of the stable.

When we reached the door, Tiny Tulip darted back for Black Thorn's walking stick, tying it sideways to one of the horses.

We stepped outside in time to see Black Thorn coming toward the stable struggling to carry a bigger pack than his own in front of him.

I stared as Tiny Tulip grabbed the bulging bag and secured it to the smallest horse's saddle. Then she took two of the leads and led us out of the village.

Black Thorn took the lead of the horse with his stick from me and followed after her.

The other horse followed its packmates and I walked with it, holding the lead limply.


End file.
